If we don’t get this right, there will be a generation of children locked out of the classroom and drawn into danger.
As much of the attention around returning to school centres on the practicalities of social distancing, the Children’s Commissioner for England has told this programme there needs to be a razor-like focus on the most high-risk pupils or they could be lost to education for good.
She’s warning of a spike in exclusions if there isn’t enough support for really vulnerable children, for whom lockdown may have been anything but a time of safety at home.